Russian cinema, as you know, is not in the best condition. Filming abroad, even if not in Hollywood, but at least in France or Spain is the dream of many actors, but not everyone succeeds in realizing themselves in the foreign market.
Today we will recall 10 of our big screen stars who, if not conquering the West, were able to at least show themselves well there.
10. Ksenia Rappoport
The actress back in 1997 at the age of 23 received a small role in the Hollywood version of "Anna Karenina" with Sophie Marceau and Sean Bean in the lead roles, and in the future only increased momentum in foreign cinema.
She was especially successful in Italy: at first she played the main role in the film “The Stranger” and received the prize of the Italian Film Academy for her best role, and 2 years later, due to her reputation, she was appointed the host of the opening and closing of the Cannes Film Festival.
In total, Xenia has several dozens of roles, many of which are in Italian paintings.
9. Dina Korzun
Dina’s Hollywood career began in 2004 when she was called to the main female role in the drama Forty Shades of Sadness, where Rip Thorne (People in Black 1 and 2) became her partner on the set. For this work, she even won a nomination for Best Actress in the Independent Spirit Film Festival, but, alas, she did not win the victory.
Subsequently, she starred in "Sharp Visors" and played on the stage of the Royal National Theater in London, where she now lives.
8. Oleg Taktarov
From childhood, a Russian athlete dreamed of becoming an actor, and he definitely wanted to act in Hollywood. To achieve this goal, he went to the USA in 1994, without a green card and not knowing English.
Realizing that he needed money first of all, he began to participate in the UFC battles, having achieved good results there (including becoming the champion in 1995), and most importantly, he became recognizable.
Later, he entered one of the best acting schools and began to receive the first offers in the cinema: “The Airplane of the President” in 1997, etc. All of his roles are pretty similar and stereotyped, but still not every Russian actor can boast of acting along with Adrien Brody, Harrison Ford or Gary Oldman.
7. Valery Nikolaev
A graduate of the Moscow Art Theater School, unlike many colleagues, never believed that this was enough, so he later studied at acting schools in New York, London and New Jersey.
This helped him not only to pump acting skills, but also to make a lot of useful acquaintances, which, as a result, helped him get the role in the Oliver Stone thriller “Turn”, where he starred with Sean Penn, Nick Nolte and Jennifer Lopez.
After that, he appeared in the tapes “Saint” by Phillip Noyce and “Terminal” by Stephen Spielberg. After this role, his career began to decline, and now, unfortunately, he does not act in normal films.
6. Svetlana Khodchenkova
The first Hollywood role in the movie "Spy Get Out" with Svetlana was small, but she managed to work with such stars as Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth and Tom Hardy. By the way, along with her in this tape, our other actor starred - Konstantin Khabensky.
Then she got a more prominent role in the solo album Wolverine: Immortal, playing the antagonist. After that, in her career there were no notable works abroad, and the projects in which she starred in Russia for the most part turned out to be controversial: the classmates “Classmates”, “Rzhevsky against Napoleon”, “Warrior”, etc.
Given that the actress is only 36 years old, I want to believe that she will finally stop acting in everything and concentrate on finding roles in Hollywood.
5. Vladimir Mashkov
A popular Russian actor first hit the radars of American filmmakers back in 1997, and he did it with a domestic film, which is rare.
The drama "The Thief" directed by Pavel Chukhrai, in which Mashkov played the main character, was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe in the category "Best Foreign Language Film".
After that, he expectedly began to receive offers from American directors and subsequently starred repeatedly. Of the most famous - "Mission Impossible: Protocol" Phantom "" and "Behind Enemy Lines."
His hero from the last film served as the prototype of Nico Bellic - the protagonist of GTA IV. Unfortunately, in February of this year, Vladimir Mashkov announced his retirement, although he was only 55 years old.
4. Danila Kozlovsky
The most likely, the most popular and sought-after actor in Russia in the West has so far just mastered, but has already managed to star in several fairly large projects.
For example, he can be seen in the BBC and AMC TV series McMafia, as well as in the 6th Viking season from History. Kozlovsky is still young, he is only 33, so we will probably see him in foreign films.
3. Anton Yelchin
If not for his death as a result of a ridiculous accident in 2016, then he would surely have become the most recognizable Russian actor in Hollywood, since even at the age of 27 he had already managed to do a lot.
For example, he starred in the drama Alpha Dog, science fiction Star Trek and Terminator: May the Savior Come, and many other famous films.
In fairness, it is worth noting that despite his birth in the RSFSR, it is difficult to name Yelchin as a Russian actor, since he actually didn’t act in film. Before reaching a year, he emigrated with his parents to the States, where he even auditioned for the role of Harry Potter.
2. Yuri Kolokolnikov
The actor made the first attempts to conquer Hollywood back in 2000, but then he did not succeed and was forced to return to his homeland.
In Russia, he starred a lot and relatively successfully, but in the West, luck smiled at him only in 2013, when he was approved for the role of leader of the Tenn tribe in the Game of Thrones.
Since then, he has been actively making his way to this market: “Hunter Killer” with Gary Oldman and Gerrard Butler, “Bodyguard of the killer” with Samuel L. Jackson, Ryan Reynolds and Salma Hayek - everywhere he got a small, but still a role.
1. Igor Zhizhikin
As a circus artist, Zhizhikin came to the United States in the early 90s, and when the circus went bankrupt, he was left in Vegas without money, connections and prospects. Perseverance and a little luck helped him find a job in the theater, from where he had already started his career in the cinema.
The debut for him was the role in the “Bloody work” by Clint Eastwood, but then it started: “The Spy” with Quentin Tarantino, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” by Steven Spielberg and others.